Narendra Dabholkar case: Tawade's custody extended till June 20

A CBI court on Thursday extended the custody of Virendra Tawade, an accused in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, till June 20.

According to reports, CBI lawyer B.P. Raju stated that Tawde was not cooperating with the investigative agency and sought for his custodial interrogation.

Tawde, a member of the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS), was produced before the court in Pune after his arrest on June 10.

The arrest came nine days after the CBI searched the residence of Tawde, who works as a medical officer for the Sanstha, and questioned him at the outfit's ashram in Panvel.

Tawde's arrest was the first by the central agency since it took over the probe in May 2014 on the Bombay High Court's directions following a PIL which alleged that pro-Hindutva activists were involved in the killing.

Dabholkar was shot dead reportedly by two unidentified people near Balgandharva auditorium in Pune when he was out for a morning walk on August 20, 2013. The assailants fled on a two-wheeler.

The High Court had transferred the probe to the CBI on May 9, 2014, after a PIL filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar, saying there was no headway even several months after Dabholkar's killing.